Winter Update

Its been a super busy few weeks and an early finish today has finally given me a bit of time to update the blog!

Firstly, I was taking Dan up Ben Nevis via the Mountain Track. This is a bit misleading as there was pretty much a continuous snow slope beyond half way rather than a track! This meant for some hard leg work and persevering but after a sterling effort from Dan, and a bit of whiteout navigation, we were enjoying having the summit to ourselves.

The 19th of February saw the start of the Fort William Mountain Festival. This year, funded by the Nevis Landscape Partnership, Lochaber Guides as well as four other local guiding companies took part in the Carpe Diem stand. This initiative to 'seize the day' involves us offering a FREE guided ascent of Ben Nevis on the 20th September 2014. There were four routes on offer and the only catch was that the participants agreed to spend 1 hour on the summit clearing up litter. A genuine, 'win win' for everyone involved! We saw our target of 20 volunteers exceeded and even have a reserve list now! If anyone is interested, there may still be the odd space left on the Mountain Track or Carn Mor Dearg Arete so drop us an email if you're interested.

Next up was a great weekend with Rachael and Jen. We had a days Winter Skills up on the West slopes of Carn Mor Dearg with some great views over to the North Face of Ben Nevis and of the impressive avalanche debris that had piled down from number 5 gully amongst others!

Our original plan had been to ascend Ben Nevis the next day, but due to winds forecast to be gusting 90mph+, we thought we'd have a go at something a bit smaller. Buachaille Etive Beag was the perfect choice and a late start after a visit to the Craft Cafe in Glencoe, saw us avoiding most of the rain. It was a bit of a battle through wet snow to reach the saddle between Stob Dubh and Stob Coire Rainneach and even more of a battle to stand up on the summit! Still, the girls were made of tough stuff and it was great to reach a Munro summit in such challenging conditions! There was some large avalanche debris from Stob Coire Altrium on the Buachaille into the Lairig Gartain.

Last week, I was working on a Winter Workshop with some of the Degree students from West Highland College. The students involved had chosen Winter Navigation as their choice. On the first day we headed to Aonach Mor with some blustery conditions. After a quick revision on timing, orientating the map and a bit of pacing we headed onto the plateau to practice some 'whiteout' techniques. The monstrous cornices having over Easy Gully quickly put into context the need for good navigation in Winter and we had a really productive day considering the constant battering of spindrift!

The cornice on Easy gully 

For the second day, we wanted to go on more of a journey so we headed on to Meall a Chaorainn and over to Mullach nan Coirean. The chaps got to practice some challenging legs in pretty tough conditions and all came away feeling they had a few more tools in the navigation box!

Someone staying cosy in the snow!

James was also out working for us, taking Julia on a walk to the North Face of Ben Nevis. This is always worth a trip and really showcases the spectacular side of the mountain!

Last weekend Sam and Ben were up for a Ben Nevis Winter Weekend. Both Sam and Ben are pretty experienced having done a fair bit of summer hillwalking before and Ben has done some climbing in the Alps. We had a smashing sunny day on Aonach Mor going over our basic Winter skills including use of ice axe and crampons, emergency shelters and some basic Winter navigation.

 The Carn Mor Dearg Arete was the top choice for the guys and after a careful look at the forecast, we reckoned on a good weather window on Sunday morning. We made it onto the summit of CMD in 2hrs 30 and had a total trip time of a speedy 7 hours. Just as we arrived in the Ben Nevis Inn for a celebratory drink, the winds picked up and the rain started. A great feeling when a plan works out! Well done to Ben and Sam for a fantastic effort.

Monday was a day of highs and lows. Nadir was up in the area looking at a filming project. Myself, Nadir, Kev and Joe started the steep walk up to Coire nan Lochan in Glencoe with some climbing in mind. Unfortunately after a while, Kev's fused ankle was causing him excruciating pain and he made a tough decision to head down. Kev's written about it in his blog here. 

 Feeling a bit deflated we decided to carry on as the weather was looking promising. The aim was to climb Scabbard Chimney (V,6) which has been a popular climb this season. Due to the Considerable avalanche forecast, we headed up the scoured slope beneath Summit Buttress and hugged the crag line to the base of the route. I took the first pitch, Joe the second and we abbed back down. The climbing felt about V,4. Technically pretty straightforward but there were very few runners ( think we got  no more than 5 on the entire route). 

Nadir got some smashing shots on our way back down(no prizes for guessing which ones are his!).

Nadir Khan Photography

Nadir Khan Photography

On Wednesday, Nadir and I decided on a quick trip to the Cairngorms to try and stay dry for a while! We were planning to head into Coire an-t Sneachda and see what the conditions were like. Straight away, the wind was gathering speed and the constant waves of spindrift livened up our walk in. We got to the base of Original Summer Route (IV,5) on Aladdin's Buttress but the spindrift was blasting over the rocks and some sloughs started sliding down the Couloir. After having a quick chat and deciding that keeping the camera dry was going to pretty much impossible, as well as getting a general uneasy feeling, we bailed to the Mountain Cafe! After seeing quite a few pictures of avalanches that came down later that day, we felt pretty happy with our decision!

Posy shot! Nadir Khan Photography

Nadir Khan Photography

The last couple of days I've been out with Simon. Yesterday was an enjoyable Winter Skills day on Aonach Mor. We covered lots including ice axe arrest, cramponing, some winter navigation and avalanche awareness.

Today, we headed for a trip on Ben Nevis. With most of the weather forecasts predicting a stormy day, Simon was happy to call things a day at the Red Burn. Lots of people thoroughly ill- equipped for the conditions at the moment- it's still very much Winter on the mountain and it looks like it will be for quite some time! Thanks to Simon for a grand couple of days and for being great company on the hill!

Some fractures on the snow just above the Red Burn crossing...

Winter skills and Mamores Guiding

On Thursday I was working for the West Highland College with the First Year Degree Students. Our plan was to cover some basic Winter skills and also to let the students look at how we structure our sessions and adapt things depending on the conditions.
Straight away we were met with some challenges as we struggled to get the bus up the Forestry track to the Allt a Mhullin due to all the snow!

We looked at various aspects of avalanche awareness both during the walk in and on the hill. After covering the use of crampons and with lots of spindrift and strong gusts, we found a good bank of snow to dig some emergency shelters.
A great effort from the team who managed to get a productive day despite some challenging conditions!

On Friday I was guiding Laura and Rosie. We had a few options but due to the high avalanche forecast we thought sticking to ridge lines would be safest. We headed up the fantastic North Ridge of Stob Ban. Whilst never too technical, this gives a real sense of a mountaineering adventure and under so much snow, was great fun!
We headed round the West end of the Mamores Ridge along to Mullach nan Correan. The wind started to pick up as we arrived at the summit and so a steady descent saw us back in Glen Nevis. A thoroughly enjoyable day at work! Thanks to Andy who came along to shadow also.

Nevis, Sgurr a Mhaim and Stob Ban

On Tuesday I took Dhiren and Kiro up the Ben Track, with Andy shadowing. They are both planning on climbing Kilimanjaro this year so wanted a bit of training in preparation. They certainly weren't disappointed as the mountain was in great winter condition for a leg stretch! The Red Burn was totally banked out and gave us a nice bit of excitement early on. From here on in, the path was totally buried in snow so we headed directly up the west side of the mountain, giving a good work out for the legs. There were a few pockets of windslab around but nothing to worry about. On the plateau was a complete whiteout, testing the nav skills until the summit popped into view. Well done to Dhiren and Kiro for a great effort and best of luck for your future mountain exploits!





 Yesterday I was out with Dave for a trip around Sgurr a Mhaim, The Devil's Ridge and a descent of the North Ridge of Stob Ban. LOTS of snow up there just now and a few small dodgy bits of windslab but great fun nonetheless!

Snow, wind and more snow!

Last weekend I was working for Maximum Adventure on a Ben Nevis Winter trip. Due to high winds and the Gondola being off, we headed up to the top car park and into Coire na Ciste for some Winter skills. We had good fun practicing some ice axe arrest in the large quantities of snow that had built up. The Ben is absolutely plastered just now and climbing looks like it will be great once we get a good thaw and refreeze. Who knows when that will happen though!

Sunday saw us heading up the Ben Track. Struggling to open the car doors at Achintee we were prepared for a bit of a battle. The winds were forecast to be 100-120mph so we were pretty sure the summit was out of the question. Thankfully there was a slight lull in the winds that allowed us to reach the Red Burn and beyond to about 750m before calling it a day. A great weekend with Mamie, Harry, Xenia and Dan, thanks for the good company!

Yesterday I was out with Kev, Joe and James on a trip round the Carn Mor Dearg Arete. Blue skies and sunshine was the forecast with some light winds. The sunshine didn't arrive until our descent so we had so atmospheric conditions on the route. The Arete was loaded with snow, with some large cornices building on the North side of the ridge. Very good value for an easy route, it felt like a good day's mountaineering. The Mountain Track on the Ben was totally buried under the snow which meant for a quick descent towards the Red Burn. With more snow in the forecast, this could be a long Winter indeed!

CMD from Lochaber Guides on Vimeo.

Winter update

On Tuesday I was guiding Michel from Canada on the Ben Track. Michel is an experienced hiker and had done a fair bit of mountaineering before but was keen to benefit from some local knowledge of the area. We headed off abut 0730hrs by headtorch and although there was some high cloud rolling in, we were treated to some stunning views. Hard going again on the plateau with a bit of wading through the softer snow. We enjoyed a leisurely stop on the summit until our increasingly cold hands forced us to head down. A fantastic day, with some great stories from Michel about his previous adventures.

On Thursday I headed onto the Ben with Kev and Chris from the BBC Radio Scotland 'Out of Doors Show'. We had planned on ascending Green Gully but as we approached we saw a a lot of fresh avalanche debris, a crown wall just under the first pitch and the snow wasn't nearly as firm or icy as we had hoped. Whilst there was nothing blatantly telling us not to climb the route, we agreed the top pitch could be quite emotional if the snow was unconsolidated and protection as hard to find as was expected. So, plan B it was, and we cut across the top of Moonlight Gully Buttress and nipped onto Ledge Route. This gave us plenty of time for Kev to get his interview done whilst still enjoying a trip on the Ben. Ledge Route was in the easiest conditions I had ever seen, allowing us to walk the whole route! A bit of nav off of the top of Carn Dearg to find the Red Burn and we had an leisurely stroll back to the car for early afternoon.

On Friday, Andy invited me out for his birthday tradition of a winter climbing day! We headed up Aonach Mor with the intention of climbing Morwind (III/IV,4). Very poor visibilty saw us carefully locating the edge of Easy gully followed by an ab off a bollard and we traversed to the base of the route. Conditions were mixed with some good ice but a lot of cruddy snow too. Protection and belays were hard to find so in those conditions the route was good value. A good way for Andy to celebrate being 21 (again)!



Morwind from Lochaber Guides on Vimeo.

Promising starts

Once all the Christmas and New Year festivities quietened down, it was time to get the ice tools out and see what was worth a look. With so much fresh snow recently and the avalanche forecast looking interesting, Andy and I headed to Lurcher's Crag in the Cairngorms.

looking into the Northern Corries

Being West facing, the slopes were scoured rather than loaded but there was some ice to climb. We had a quick look and saw one of the ice falls on the Northern part of the crag looked fun. The ice was a bit thin and cruddy in placed to start with but soon improved with height. The hardest section was a nice grade III so it felt good to get back into the swing of winter climbing.

With the Ben still looking loaded and reports of massive avalanches down No. 5 and Observatory Gullies, Andy and I headed back East on Thursday into Coire an-t Sneachda. Without any objectives in mind, and not having done much climbing here, we were drawn to the inviting line of Patey's Route (IV,5). Andy took the first pitch which had a nice icy step. The second pitch has a large chockstone which was iced up quite well although just as things got interesting the snow turned to powder it was like trying to climb in sand. Thankfully there was some good ice hiding under the powder and before long we were on the plateau. A bit of nav practice and we were back at the ski centre for about 1330hrs, a civilised early finish!

Patey's route 090114 from Lochaber Guides on Vimeo.


This weekend, I was working for Maximum Adventure. I met with Andy, Connor and Rob for a briefing and kit check on Friday and on Saturday we were straight up the hill at Aonach Mor for some Winter Skills. The snow conditions were perfect and we covered step kicking, step cutting, cramponing, ice axe arrest. We even had enough snow to have a play at emergency shelters. The goggles came out for the short walk back though as some squally weather blew through!

 Yesterday was putting everything into practice on Ben Nevis. A nice early start saw us at the Red Burn for 0900hrs. The snow soon built up and we donned crampons and axes from there. The spindrift blowing down the zig zags was horrendous but a fighting approach saw us reach the plateau. From there, the winds died slightly and we even had some sunshine! Lots of snow on the plateau and most of the cairns were buried. Well done to the team for a very strong performance and earning a place on the summit!

This week is looking busy with some more guiding, a day out with BBC Radio Scotland and perhaps some more climbing!

End of year round up.

A quick round of the last week few weeks. I spent some more days working for the West Highland College with the 1st year degree students and the ACOL (advanced certificate in outdoor leadership). We had some great days looking at navigation and basic mountain skills in Glen Roy and near Kinlochleven.

                                     

                                     

Shortly after this, Andy and I took a we trip up into Coire Na Ciste with a view to checking out the conditions. The thaw had been pretty sustained at the point so only the easy gullies were complete and there were signs of avalanche and rock debris all over the corrie. 

Last weekend I was working for Maximum Adventure. Unfortunately, the weather forecast was not too helpful on the Saturday, with winds gusting 90mph. To get to the existing snow at 900m on the Ben would have been extremely difficult at best so we had a day in the Ice Factor covering various aspects of winter walking including trip and route planning, personal organisation, equipment use and selection as well as quick wander in crampons in the Ice wall.

The Sunday forecast showed some very strong winds- gusting 120mph- to arrive around midday. Despite an early start and some stunning views, we made it as far as corner one on the zig zags (750m) before losing the ability to stand upright in the wind! A character building walk down saw us drying off over a hot drink in the Ben Nevis Inn. A great performance by the team, just unlucky with the weather this time!

Since last week, the freezing level has lowered and we've been battered with lots of winter storms. Reports suggest ice is building well on the Ben so things are looking really promising for a great start to 2014! 

This has been a truly outstanding year for me, not only becoming a dad but also achieving lot of long term climbing goals (and a few injuries added in!).Thanks to my climbing partners for helping me to reach them. 

This will be the last blog post of 2013 so all the best for the New Year and here's hoping for a good season of winter climbing.